I’m the head of the Corporate Market for the Tax & Accounting business at Thomson Reuters – we build the corporate tax software used by many of the world's largest multinationals, as well as the Big 4 accounting firms. I work closely with global business leaders to set up their tax technology, so I have visibility into how they handle financial reporting and the challenges they face. I also serve on the board of a growing medical technology startup. In this blog, I analyze the connections between economics and business opportunities, highlighting examples of where tax helps or hinders growth. Follow the brand @YourONESOURCE.

Innovation, Meet Regulation: How Flash Boys, Uber And Tesla Are Breaking All The Rules

Will regulation ever fully catch up? If history is any guide, what we can expect for the next decade or so is a period of intense growing pains as the transformation of the global economy continues to evolve with ongoing technology development. We’re going to see more ironies like New York forcing Tesla to operate old-fashioned car dealerships as it simultaneously launches a statewide tax incentive program to bring innovative start-up businesses to the state. And we’re going to continue to see headaches as businesses figure out how to meet these challenges while still keeping the flame of innovation alive.

For those of us tasked with helping our businesses navigate this constantly changing landscape, it’s going to be an incredibly interesting ride. And surely one in which compliance with seemingly endless new regulatory changes is going to be a fact of life.

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Unfortunately for ridesharers, the problem with ride-sharing companies and their business model is their non-compliance with laws and local regulations governing public transportation. More often than not ride-sharing taxis are in violation of both. One can only go so far dodging permit costs, insurance costs, regulatory expenses, transportation laws, statutory laws, etc. At some point authorities will wake up to the smell and smack it down or at least make it comply with same set of rules and requirements imposed on all other transportation service operators. In fact, some US cities already disallowed ride-sharing taxicab services precisely for the reason of non-compliance. Miami, Vegas come to mind. Recently, if I remember correctly, China prohibited few, if not all, ride-sharing operators from operating in its major cities. The reason was the same – non-compliance with laws and regulations and thus acquired unfair advantage over existing businesses; one can only go so far breaking laws and dodging regulations that govern others in the same exact industry segment. Here are some links attached:

It’s difficult not to see the application of laws like that in New Jersey on Tesla as having elements of protectionism as well. The main trouble seems to be that governments want all the panache and new revenue streams of start-up tech’n'web businesses that can move fast on their feet, while also attempting to prop up older, entrenched corporations that in some cases are starting to look like endangered species. Economies are about jobs as well as about capital and while all the talk from governments is about embracing the web economy, it looks like they’re very worried about what the job market will look like when all these middlemen get cut out…

I wrote a blogpost on this topic: 5 Reasons why Uber is a gift from heaven for the established taxi industry => http://www.boardofinnovation.com/2014/04/16/5-reasons-why-uber-is-a-gift-from-heaven-for-the-established-taxi-industry/

What Airbnb does is illegal in many cities. Illegal-period. Now that they are being called out for it, their response is basically, yes, we knew what we were promoting and facilitating was illegal, but we did it anyway. Now that we have a lot of money, can we please buy you off? Try that with the IRS or state taxing authorities when you have been evading taxes for years.